Our Reasons
by Midnyght Saber
Summary: Songfic that runs the course of Mega Man X7. I've taken a few liberties with the storyline, but we all know the games never show us what's really going on behind the scenes. Rated for language and a nasty backhand. Oh, yeah, and because Axl has guns...


**Disclaimer:** _Mega Man_ and all related characters and information are the property of Capcom Co., Ltd., Akira Kitamura and Keiji Inafune. "Deconstruct" is the property of Epica and Nuclear Blast.

* * *

"I can't keep doing this, Zero," X said, turning from the Hunter. "I can't continue destroying them."

"So you're going to walk away from everything you've stood for?" Zero asked. "Just like that, you're going to throw it all away?"

"Do I really have another choice?" the blue Reploid returned. "Would you have me out there, killing our brethren for some war we'll never end?!"

**If we could see ourselves**

**The mirror would reflect insanity**

Zero scoffed. "You think walking off the battlefield is going to fix anything? That your presence taken from us will stop them turning Maverick?"

"I don't know," X replied, dropping his head into his hands. "But I can't bring myself to do this anymore."

Zero searched for a reply, for something to get through X's thick skull, but nothing came, and he spun on his heels, blonde tail whipping around as he stalked off. "Well, in the end, it's your decision. If you think it'll make things better, do whatever." Walking out of the room, the door slid shut with a resounding thud.

_You don't get it, Z,_ X thought. _You don't see the blood on your hands like I do._

**Instead we camouflage the flaws that lie within**

**Condone the suffering we witness**

**As we mingle casually**

Collapsing into the chair at his desk, X pulled a stack of papers towards him, looking over the official reports from the last week's Maverick attacks.

_What really makes them Maverick anyway? We've always thought that it was the Virus, but there were Mavericks even before Sigma started this insane war. Only with the Virus did the war really start, with Sigma turning from the Hunters._

X dropped the pen to the table with a clatter._ All this time we've been fighting and destroying Reploids turned into killing machines by a Virus, and not once have we tried to come up with a cure._

**We need to right ourselves**

**Or else we will derail**

Zero paced the hall leading to the training room, spinning his deactivated blade fluidly between his hands. Whatever had possessed X to leave the field hunting for the administration department, he was just going to have to let it be for now. While X was known for being a bit hesitant in combat situations, he was also bullheaded about the things he believed in, and the Class SA Commander knew better than to try and argue with him about this, at least so soon after the decision had been made.

Activating the blade, he fell into the soothing pattern of the patterns he'd developed, letting the motions comfort him and ease away his frustration with the blue Hunter. _We can't save them all_, Zero thought. _X knows that some of them are just too far lost to the Virus, too corrupted by whatever ideals have been infecting their systems. All that has a chance of ending this war is getting rid of the infected and making sure that the innocents don't get caught in the crossfire._

**Aiming too high**

**You are bound to fail**

Deactivating and sheathing his blade, Zero slid into a battle stance, flinging kicks and punches at imaginary foes as he moved through the series of close-combat strikes. _Even if we could save the infected some other way, the Virus is too dangerous to just stand idly by like he's doing. I don't get where he's gotten the idea that leaving the field will make anything better._

_It's not like we're doing what these damn vigilantes are. We're only going after Reploids that are presenting both a risk to the general populace and showing Maverick energy readings._ Zero felt himself falter a bit in his motions as his agitation got the better of him. _Dammit, X, what in the world are you trying to prove?_

**Patience is a vital virtue**

**That you'll never have**

An alarm sounded, alerting the on-duty Hunters to the presence of a Maverick energy signature within the city, and Zero bolted for the teleportation pads. "Navigation Control, this is Commander Zero responding to priority one alert."

Alia's voice responded back. "Copy that, Commander. Teleport pad five is active and programmed for transmission near the Maverick signal point."

Leaping onto the pad as he cleared the doorway leading to the teleport room, Zero was ready for anything.

**Don't force me to believe**

Scratch that – _almost_ anything. The Reploid he'd towed back with him, obviously connected to the Maverick attack in some way, was not something he'd been expecting.

A member of Red Alert who had gotten disgusted with the procedures of the group, Axl had defected in the hopes of getting away from the same thing that X had stopped hunting for.

**We're caught up in the greed**

All I wanted was to be important, to help make a difference, to help stop the problem Reploids. I never wanted to be a hired gun, and when I finally realized that Red Alert cared more about the bottom line and getting somewhere because they didn't care who they killed…

The Maverick Hunters were my only option. Out of all the anti-Maverick forces out there, only one of them seemed to have any moral fiber left. Heck, under the guidance of a Reploid like X, I'd be surprised to see the Hunters be anything but morally obligated to do right by all of this.

'**Cause I just care for me**

The gauntlet had been thrown. Red Alert wanted Axl back, and Axl wasn't willing to return. In response, they released their captive Mavericks on the city, letting a ridiculous bet between our factions decide the kid's fate rather than just accepting the fact that Axl wasn't happy with their group or their twisted idea of justice.

Even on the sidelines, nothing I could have done would have stopped this outbreak of violence, not without sacrificing Axl, and anyone who knew me knew I wouldn't allow him to go back unless he wanted to.

"You can't keep hiding, X. The Hunters need you. The people of this city need you."

"I'm not changing my mind about this, Zero. Until you can tell me how I'm supposed to accept the fact that I'm killing Reploids when there has to be _something_ that we can do for them that isn't so extreme, I'm not raising a Buster against any one of them."

"And what about Red Alert? They're using Mavericks as a bargaining chip to control the kid! Are you going to stand by and watch from your ivory tower as those…_things_ lay waste to the city and kill recklessly, human and Reploid alike? Are you going to just let them have Axl back?"

**To break it, we'll need everyone**

X clenched his fists, pressing them against the windowsill he was standing by. "I don't want them to take Axl back, that much is true, but going about it like this…"

"What is so important about Axl, X? Why do they want him back so much that a group _meant_ to _destroy_ Mavericks is releasing them on the people they're supposed to protect?" Zero's eyes narrowed as he looked over his shoulder, the ex-Red Alert walking in.

**Think it through**

**United is the only way**

Axl looked between the two Hunters he had looked up to for so long, ashamedly kicking one foot against the floor. "It's because of what I'm able to do."

"And what are you capable of, Axl, that they're so willing to ruin this city for you?"Zero asked, pointedly looking at X when he asked.

**A raging tragedy ignored will have its justice finally**

**Distress and poverty is everyone's disease**

In a flash of light, a Maverick Hunter security Reploid stood where Axl had been only a moment before. "I'm able to do this," Axl explained. "The only person that I know that might even have a clue of where I come from is Red, but I'm not about to run back to them to ask questions. They've done enough to make me want to just curl up in a corner somewhere and die." Changing back, he wrapped a hand around his opposite arm, head turned towards the floor.

Zero looked over at X for only a moment before the look on the Reploid's face gave away his thoughts, and Zero stormed out in a huff, calling Axl out after him.

"You better go, Axl," X said, turning back to the window.

"Why aren't you out there with us?" Axl asked.

X sighed, lowering his head. "You wouldn't understand."

**We'll come to realize for all we've done**

**There is a price to pay**

Driving his blade into the central core of the Maverick, Zero stepped back as the Reploid fell over, Axl behind him, guns still drawn and at the ready if any other enemies decided to make themselves known. Slowly moving away from the body, Axl and Zero were both warped back to base, Axl falling into a crumpled pile as he stepped down from the teleport pad.

Zero was at his side immediately. "You okay?"

"I think I might've messed up my leg out there," Axl said, shakily pushing himself to his feet, his right leg buckling as he put his weight on it.

Zero leaned down, looping Axl's arm over his shoulder. "Let's get you to the medical bay."

"I'm sorry, Zero," Axl said, looking away from the Hunter.

"For what?" Zero asked. "You did okay out there today."

"If it weren't for me, you wouldn't _be_ fighting with Red Alert. I should have never…"

**Yet hope is never lost**

**There always is a way**

"Don't even say that," Zero cut him off, not allowing him to finish. "Besides, would you have been _happy_ with them?"

Axl was silent up until they got to the medical bay, and as Zero lifted him into a repair pod, Axl shook his head.

"What, 'no'?" Zero asked.

"To the question if I would have been happy with Red Alert. No. No, I wouldn't."

Zero smiled. "Don't ever regret the decisions that you've made. They got you to where you are. The only thing you should ever worry about are the decisions you still have to make."

**Trumping the game**

**Is no easy way**

"Again?" X said, turning away from the guest that had entered his room.

"What are we supposed to do, X? It's getting bad enough out there that Axl got himself hurt. The medical staff is looking over his injury, which I'm hoping is nothing worse than a bad gear in his leg somewhere, or him needing fresh oil on the hydraulics."

X huffed. "You trying to blame it on me?"

"I never said anything of the sort, X." Zero walked up to his friend, setting a hand on his shoulder. "But you're blaming yourself."

X shrugged Zero's hand off. "Stop trying to convince me that I need to get back out on the field."

**Enterprise and discipline**

**Will pay off in the end**

"I stopped a while ago. Now, it's more worry than anything else."

X snorted derisively. "Worried? The great Commander Zero is _worried_ about me?"

"Don't act like we don't care about you, X. We care a great deal." Zero stopped for a moment. "_I_ care more than you think I do."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

**Don't force me to believe**

"Where have I been, X, for all these years? Where have I been since the day I got brought to Maverick Hunter headquarters? Where, X? _Where_?!" When X held his stoic silence, Zero snapped. "I have been _by your side_, X, out _there_, in that _hellhole _that used to be a city! I have fought and _died_ to make this world what _you've_ told me it could be! Now, after all this time, you _want _to_ back out _on that?!"

**We're caught up in the greed**

X spun around, marching towards the 0th Unit Commander. "Do not _start_ with me on what…"

Anything that X might have been bringing into the argument was lost as Zero's hand snapped out, catching X hard on the cheek and sending him reeling to the floor. "Only a _coward _runs from the fight when he has the upper hand! Only a little_ shit _like you've become would leave us to _suffer_!"

"Zero…"

'**Cause I just care for me**

"We _fucking_ need you!" Zero screamed before turning for the door. "So you'd better get your damn head on _right_, because I _cannot_ afford to be worried about _you_ when people _out there_ need me."

X pushed himself up from the floor, his cheek stinging violently from the force of Zero's strike, and he took one look out the window at the city below before climbing into his recharge pod.

The anger in Zero's voice wormed its way through him, the echoes of his rage festering in X like a wound he couldn't heal, and he plugged himself into the charger with a sigh. As his partner's last words played like a broken record in his mind, X fell into an uneasy sleep state, eyes flooding with tears.

**To break it, we'll need everyone**

Axl pushed himself from the recovery pod the next morning, watched carefully by the medical staff as he tested the stability of his leg, as well as his booster capabilities, and he was dismissed with a clean bill of health. Walking out of the medical bay, Axl cast his eyes about, looking all the part of the lost kid he felt like. Shaking his head, he started in the direction of the one place he remembered how to get to.

A soft knock awoke X from his slumber, and he didn't even bother to disengage from the pod before calling out, "Come on in." As he turned his head from the soft cushion of his pod, he was shocked to find not Zero, but the defected Red Alert Reploid at the door. "What are you doing here, Axl?" he asked, actually bothering to disconnect from the recharge pod.

"I wanted to see how you were doing," Axl confessed. "After all…you're part of the reason I'm here. I…when I started to see what Red Alert had become…I knew I'd be safe with the Maverick Hunters. I knew because you're a Hunter…or I thought you were. Ever since my activation, all I've heard are stories about how long you and Zero have been at this, but mostly, about how you've never given up, even when all the odds were stacked against you, and when Sigma was…so willing to use people you cared about against you." Twirling the tip of his boot into the carpet, a sign X took as the Reploid's nervousness, he looked away. "I just…It's weird, knowing what I've heard about you against what I've seen, and I…I guess I just wanted to know why."

X sighed. "Did Zero send you here?"

"No," Axl answered, shaking his head. "I just don't understand what happened."

"It's…it's not easy to explain. I just…I can't be responsible for killing Reploids who were nothing but innocent victims of this plague. The Maverick Virus…Sigma Virus…whatever you want to call it, it corrupts absolutely, and we've never even thought about looking for a cure. All we've ever done is destroy them and call it a successful mission."

"You can't really believe that," Axl said. "Even if you don't raise a weapon against the Mavericks, they're raising their own weapons against other innocents, and _those_ innocents aren't Maverick at all."

X looked at the young Reploid, and Axl turned away, heading for the door.

"Sorry to bother you."

**Think it through**

**United is the only way**

Zero and Axl both fell back, Zero's saber and Axl's pistols raised against the Maverick they'd run into.

"Now would be a really good time for you to do that thing of yours," Zero called out. "I can't get close enough to damage this thing without getting caught."

"I don't have anything that would hold out against that, and my bullets aren't getting through." Axl jumped back, boosting haphazardly into a damaged wall, only barely managing to get clear as the rubble crashed to the floor. "Sorry, Zero."

The red-armored Hunter brought his blade up, a horizontal line of green that danced in his eyes.

Just as he was about to move in for the strike, a familiar sound met his ears, and he and Axl both looked behind them to find X standing on the pile of rubble Axl had earlier created, his Buster fully charged, and as the Maverick's attention shifted from Zero's glowing blade to X, the Blue Bomber fired, the blast cutting viciously through the armor of the Reploid, striking at his core and dropping him like a stone.

X sighed, letting his arm drop and change back to its normal form. "You two okay?"

"Yeah," Zero said, a small smile breaking onto his face. "Thanks for the save."

Disappearing into a beam of blue light, X returned to headquarters, Zero and Axl close behind.

**If we ever could look into fate's mirror**

**We would never have ended up here**

"X…" Zero said softly, walking into the Hunter's room. "X, can we talk?"

X sat on his bed, back to the wall, his arms wrapped around his legs, barely making a motion of recognition.

"X, about what happened today…" Zero dropped down on the bed near X, and he reached over to take the blue Hunter's hand in his own. "How are you holding up?"

X shrugged. "I'm…okay, I guess. I mean, in the end, what would have happened if I hadn't been there? Where would you and Axl be right now?" He buried his head into his arms. "It's a damn logic loop."

"What is?"

"Everything I've been going through. I was programmed as a peacekeeper that would live in an age of peace, not a warrior like I've had to become. How am I supposed to make this world for Reploids and humans a reality when our own kind are so quick to rebel, so easily made into servants of Sigma?"

**We're distracted by every sin committed**

**It should always be ever so clear**

"I don't know how to answer that, X, and I blame that on me being a fighter to the core more than anything. I don't know these ideals of peace, or of harmony between humanity and machines, or of the very thing that makes you such an asset to this world. You're constantly second-guessing yourself and wondering if there's a better way, and I commend you for it."

"But it's not enough. To question why only leads to me being unable to do anything but watch as everything I'm meant to protect is pounded into the dust." X tightened his grip on the hand holding his. "I can't live with myself when it's my power that destroys the Maverick-infected Reploids. I can't live with myself when I try to pull away from the fighting because the world is going on without me. Nothing is stopping. Either side of the coin, and all there is waiting for us is destruction."

"But there's something else," Zero said, pulling himself closer to the Hunter. "You know what that is?"

X shook his head.

_**If**_

**If we ever could look into fate's mirror**

"It's the hope that the citizens have, of having one more day, of seeing another sunset, of welcoming their family home safe and sound. It's the dreams we all carry of a world that will finally see an end to the fighting, and despite the fact that fighting _is_ my life…I look forward to that peace as eagerly as everyone else."

"But at what price will it come?"

"It doesn't matter," Zero assured. "Even if it takes centuries and the loss of more Reploids to this Virus…it has to come to an inevitable end. And that day will be one of the happiest I'll ever know."

X raised an eyebrow.

"That will be the first day that the smile on your face will be true."

_**We**_

**We would never have ended up here**

X looked up at his partner, for the first time letting his jade eyes meet dancing sapphire. "You say that as if you care more about me than you're admitting out loud."

Zero rolled his eyes playfully. "X, I've fought and lived and died, time and time again, because with every passing day, your dream, that hope you have always had for the future…it's become part of me. I look at this messed-up charade of life as it is," he said, finally letting go of X's hand as he stood and walked to the window that X had spent so much time watching the world below. "I look at the lies we live right now, of fleeting senses of security, of momentary moments of serenity…I want it to end. I want your dream to be our reality."

X unfurled from his position on the bed, standing and walking to stand at Zero's side.

"I can lay my weapon down only when I know that it will never need to be raised again," Zero continued, wrapping a hand around X's shoulder. "No matter what time holds for us, I'm not going to stop fighting until I know I don't have to anymore."

_**Ever**_

**We're distracted by every sin committed**

"You can't promise me that."

"Why not?" Zero asked, hugging X for a moment before letting his arm drop. "Do you really think I want to wake up to this every day? That I want to have the most constant thing in my life be the sound of one of our Navigators telling me what section a Maverick signal has been found in?"

"But what of us? What of the Maverick Hunters when all this is done? Most of us only know fighting, are only aware of the feeling of the rush of battle, only have skills that include the use of weapons…"

Zero laughed. "We're _machines, _X. All that we know is what we've been necessitated to know. All we need are simple downloads of information, skill sets that will help us adapt to a new world."

X's lip curled softly before a subtle laugh escaped his lips.

"What's so funny?"

"Why is it that I see you getting into flower arrangement?"

Zero blinked, a matching smile gracing his features. "Maybe because I'm like the new-age robot samurai. They did the flower arrangement thing, too."

_**Look**_

**It should always be ever so clear**

X laughed, the clear, ringing sound lifting so many of his burdens from him, and his mind formed the image of Zero sitting in front of a small box filled with pebbles and water, an assortment of flowers in a vase next to him. The laughter became louder, and just as infectious, both the Hunters drifting within the momentarily utopia of their mirth before X finally began to muffle the sounds.

Zero smiled at his friend, watching his emerald eyes dance in a way he hadn't seen in ages.

"Thanks, Z," X said, embracing Zero in a thankful hug.

"It's what I'm here for…among other things."

Releasing Zero from the hug, X slid back onto his bed as the Hunter left the room, and he smiled softly as he rolled into the pillow, the soft sheets wrapping around his body as his systems went into sleep mode.

_**We**_

**If we ever could look into fate's mirror**

Zero, Axl and X saluted Signas as the High Commander of the Maverick Hunters walked into the briefing room.

"Good to see you back, X," Signas said as he returned the salute, the three Hunters dropping the formal stances for more relaxed ones.

"It's…good to be back," X returned, arms crossed behind his back.

"While there have not been any Maverick readings within the city, we cannot let our efforts become lax, and so, all Units are being mobilized on reconnaissance missions until otherwise instructed." He looked at the two Unit Commanders. "Commander Zero, the 0th Unit is being sent to the location of the last known Maverick attack for further investigation. Commander X, the 17th Unit is being sent out to the site of the second major Maverick attack. Axl, pending further review within the Hunters, you are to work with X and the 17th Unit. Are your orders clear?"

"Sir, yes, sir!" the three Hunters chorused, saluting their commanding officer. "Mission accepted, sir!"

As they headed for the teleport room, the Unit soldiers already mobilized and waiting for them, Zero and X both linked up with their Navigators, and back into the rhythm of life did they move.

_**Would**_

**We would never have ended up here**

While the day had ended on a strangely uneventful note, X felt a new sense of purpose course through him, a renewed sense of self that had been all too lost over the past few weeks. Retiring to his chambers as soon as they had been debriefed and dismissed, X was quick to plug into his recharge pod, relaxing as the soothing sensations of the electrical current flowing through his body took him.

The door slid open a few hours later, and X cracked open one eye, finding both Axl and Zero standing in the doorway, concerned looks on their faces. "Is everything okay?" he asked, pushing himself free of his pod.

"He's controlling them," Zero said, an old pain resonating in his voice.

_**Never be**_

**We're distracted by every sin committed**

X growled low, knowing full well what caused the tone of agony to sound so clear in the otherwise stoic voice.

"And it goes all the way up to Red," Axl said.

"How long?"

"Since just after I joined with them, it seems," Axl said. "Although, if that's the case, it explains so much…"

_**Here**_

**It should always be ever so clear**

"When are we making our move?"

Zero looked up, shocked at the eagerness he heard in X's voice. "Tomorrow morning."

X nodded, his right arm pulsing with the hungry energy of his Buster. "We should all get a good night's rest then."

Axl looked between the two senior Hunters for a moment before approaching X. "X…?"

"Yeah?"

Wordlessly, Axl wrapped his arms around X, hugging the blue Reploid for all he was worth.

"Axl?"

**We are caught up**

_**If we ever**_

**In our failure**

_**We would never**_

"Thanks for being there, X," Axl said. "For being the hero you've been for so many before me. You'll never know how much it means to me to be able to fight at your side."

X blinked, suddenly taken aback by the young aspiring Hunter's words, and he looked up only as Zero's hand rested on his shoulder.

"It's good to have to back in the field, buddy," Zero said with a cocky smirk.

As Axl pulled away, feeling for all the world like he'd hugged a living god, he noticed Zero tick his head back, and he read the signal well enough to know that he would do well to leave. Jogging to the door, he cast one last wave over his shoulder.

Zero leaned forward, embracing his partner as the door slid shut, X returning the motion.

"Is this going to be it?" X asked.

"I don't know, X, and I wish I did." Pulling back, he rested his head against X's, the soft clink of their helmet crystals meeting chiming softly in their ears. "All I know is that you picked a good time to take up arms again, although I have to admit I do fear your motives."

X smiled softly. "Don't worry yourself over that. Let's just say that you and Axl have had a bit of an…eye-opening effect on me."

"Glad to hear it," Zero said before pulling away. "I'll see you tomorrow morning," he called, waving over his shoulder.

"See you then," X returned.

**Now our union**

_**If we're clever**_

**Is our savior**

_**We're together**_

Running through the facility, X and Zero taking the lead as Axl provided cover fire from behind, Mavericks falling like flies as they cut through the hordes.

"Come on!" X cried, his Buster shoot ripping a pair of Maverick Mechanoloids in half. "It can't be that much further."

Zero nodded. "The Virus readings are getting worse the higher we get into this building."

Axl kicked off a wall, flipping in midair as his bullet cut through the core of a Maverick coming up behind X. "Let's just get up to Sigma and get this fight over and done with."

**It's the only way**

The sounds of boosters echoed through the building, a strange symphony created as the thrum of Buster and pistol fire intertwined with the humming drone of the beam saber, and the trio quickly came upon their target. The sound of electricity danced in the hallways behind them from the broken bodies of their foes. Sigma's laughter filled their ears, and each brought their weapon up to bear, the determination running like pure power through their systems.

A hail of gunfire echoed through the room, Axl's shots finding weak points in Sigma's armor as X strafed shots from further around the room, his Buster shots doing more damage and keeping their foe's attention off of Zero as he came in with close-range strikes.

Roaring in anguish and pain, Sigma lashed out, catching Zero on the side of the head and sending the Commander reeling into a wall. As he gained his feet, X and Axl brought their guns against Sigma with renewed fervor, a few of Axl's bullets pinged back against the thick armor, one catching X in his right shoulder, his charged shot sent off-target and burning the wall behind his target.

"Such fools you all are," Sigma taunted. "Do you really think that you can defeat me? I'll just keep coming back!"

"Not anymore you won't," X said, bringing his arm up again and firing, the blast catching Sigma in the chest and throwing him, with a pained yell, down a dark hallway, a chain reaction of explosions sounding from the shadowed path.

**Don't force me to believe**

"Do you think…? Zero asked, dropping down next to X from his perch on the wall.

Axl walked closer to the hallway, ears tuned into even the minutest of sounds as he tried to make sure that Sigma was down for good. Turning, he signaled for the two Hunters to follow him. "This way!" he called with a wave of his arm. "Hurry!" The young Reploid started in fear, however, when his auditory sensors picked up the sound of someone approaching, and he drew his pistols, firing wildly as Sigma, battered and damaged though he was.

The bullets bounced off, his efforts in vain, and Axl screamed as Sigma's massive fist crashed into his chest plate, sending him careening across the room and through what he had initially thought to have been a window.

"Axl!" he heard X cry, and he pushed himself to his feet, watching as the Hunters turned to their foe. Closing his eyes, he activated his A-Trans, calling up a form he'd never had to use.

Until now.

**We're caught up in the greed**

Sigma grinned maliciously, looking at the pair of Reploids standing before him, old comrades now mortal enemies. "I will return in a new form," he growled out. "I promise you!" Looking up, he saw the form in the shadows emerge only seconds before he let his presence known, and he followed X and Zero's gazes up to where Red stood.

"I've found you, Zero and X," the Red Alert leader said, hand tightening just a bit on his double-bladed scythe as he pushed himself from the wall, leaping down between the Hunter Commanders. Dipping closer to the floor, he spun into a harsh reverse spin kick that sent Zero tumbling across the room, and as his foot returned to the floor, he whipped his scythe into a whirling strike that sent X sprawling in the other direction. As the two Reploids moved to get their feet back under them, Red leapt back, crouching in front of Sigma as the man he'd turned to for advice in the current Maverick outbreak let the tendrils of his data links surround him.

'**Cause I just care for me**

"Very nice, Red," Sigma said, his wounded body reaching for the hale one before him, seeking to transfer his consciousness to the Reploid that had so willingly fought and sacrificed for the information he had been given. "Give me your power," he continued. "It's time for revenge."

"With this power," the Reploid challenged, the blades in his hands turning back to his trademark gun, "I'll never lose!" Bringing the gun up, Axl only caught a momentary glance at the look of panic on Sigma's face before he pulled the trigger, the gun firing a single bullet upward, piercing the synth-flesh and metal, the force sending Sigma flying backwards and into a window, Axl, still in the guise of Red, thrown forward and to the floor.

Sigma's screams reached Axl's ears only as his head impacted against a wall, the strike snapping him back jarring his systems into an emergency auto-shutdown.

**To break it, we'll need everyone**

"Axl?"

"Axl?"

"Axl, wake up."

The voices drifted through his head, his systems slowly coming back online as his auto-repairs found no substantial damage to his core systems. "Are you okay?" X's voice trailed behind Zero's, and Axl's eyes fluttered open. Realizing the situation he had found himself in, especially as his short-term memory files kicked open, a cocky grin spread over Axl's face. "Pretty cool, eh?" he asked, looking up at the blue-armored Hunter he'd long idolized, and now felt on a somewhat closer level to because of his actions against X's bitter enemy. "Gotta give me some credit."

**Think it through**

**United is the only way**

X shook his head for a moment, even as Zero shot him an 'Is this kid for _real_' look. "Fine," he said, turning and heading for the hallway that would lead them back out of the facility. "Let's get out of here."

Zero looked between his friend and the Reploid before turning and catching up to X.

"Hey!" Axl called, hurriedly getting to his feet. "Wait for me!" he cried out, dashing after his teammates.

* * *

And now for some shameless self-promotion:

On Monday, 21 June of this year, there's going to be another Mega Man X series site going public.

You may have read the works of a few other authors on this site, in particular, those of Irihi Bloodwind, Impatient Snake, and Shittoshin. If so (and considering you read MY story), you've discovered the four brains behind the Maverick Hunter Headquarters site.

And not only will this site cater to the written and drawn works we make, but will also feature guest artwork and stories from numerous other authors and artists over time. Beyond that, we're planning on personal blogs for the four of us, and individual skill presentations, such as my tips and tricks for aspiring writers, and Shittoshin's character drawing tutorials.

When we go live on the first day of summer this year (winter for those of you on the flipside of the planet), look forward to a post providing the link to the site, and we'll see you then!

This is Maverick Hunter Commander Signas, signing out. (You'll get it when we go public, don't worry.)


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